Yami no Hikari
by Serah Villiers
Summary: When a mission goes wrong Duo is captured and undergoes an experimental procedure. Now Duo's alter-ego Shinigami has his own body. What is Heero going to do with two Duo's? 1x2
1. Experiments

**There will be shonen-ai between Heero and Duo, not sure whether or not to add Wufei into the mix or perhaps a love triangle, I am open to suggestions. I will attempt to keep as many people in-character as possible, with the exception of Duo.**

**The title is Japanese and means dark's light. Flashbacks are in italics.**

* * *

**-Yami no Hikari-**

Rain fell heavily all around, splashing against the concrete grounds making puddles of murky water. Even though it was raining the guards still stood undeterred at the main entrance. Paying no heed to the falling water they stood watching for any disturbances that could jeopardise the top secret operation that was taking place on this colony.

They should have stayed home.

Though the main entrance was backed up with fifty or so Taurus suits, they were no match for all five Gundams. Within ten minutes the murky puddles on the concrete were bright crimson; the screams from the guards were no more and all that remained from the short battle were bodies and scrap metal.

"What a waste…"

Quatre shook his head sadly as he drew his Gundam to a halt next to the others. He turned his view screen on to see his fellow pilots, Duo looked the same as he felt; saddened by what they had just done, yet underlined with knowledge that it wasn't the last. Trowa's face and emotions were hidden, though he was staring at the ground rather intently. Wufei looked remorseful, too, though he was trying to shake off the feeling and act as though everything was fine. Heero looked ready for more carnage.

"We have a mission, remember that Quatre, Duo. These people are the enemies, we had to kill them."

Cobalt eyes scanned the forms of the two pilots; Quatre was used to being told this from Heero but Duo was never given this talk in front of the others. Heero knew just how much this stuff affected the braided pilot deep down, and he needed everyone on top form for the mission.

"02 report."

"I'm fine, Heero. Ready to go kill, as per usual."

He flashed a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes as he exited the cockpit of his Gundam; Wufei and Heero followed suit, leaving the other two pilots to patrol the area making sure no OZ backups were to follow them in.

The three made their way into the facility, evidently during the short fight one of the Gundam's had inadvertently hit the generator as most lights were out or flickering constantly. Luckily they had flashlights on them which they activated in the dim corridor. The halls were narrow, and split in many directions, but the three knew the floor plans off by heart. They stopped at a particular junction, Duo almost knocking into Heero's back.

"Duo, you take the elevator shaft to the basement level, Wufei and I will disarm the security alarms and any automatic weaponry they may have; be careful though, and don't get too cocky…I know you."

Duo smirked, shadows casting eerily on his face from the torches. Wufei felt a shiver run down his spine; Duo was already climbing down the shaft with such grace and agility, a completely different demeanour from what he normally showed. Heero caught the look in Wufei's eyes as Duo slipped into the shaft out of sight.

"Which one is the real him, do you think?"

"Hn?"

"Maxwell, I mean. You must have noticed something, Yuy."

"Our priority at this time is the mission, we need to find out who is organising a project like this. We can worry about anything else later, as it stands Duo is not going anywhere, the problem does not require addressing immediately."

Heero ended by drawing his gun and pointing his flashlight down the hall, checking for soldiers, Wufei sighed and drew his own weapon, bracing himself as he saw Heero smirk.

-

Duo easily slipped down the shaft, he hadn't been able to take the elevator itself as the power was now out, and it would have been a security risk anyway, Heero always liked to keep as low profile as possible in their missions. Duo didn't really care, so long as he saw carnage it was all good to him.

Smirking he saw his first target; a single inexperienced OZ soldier who was guarding the door and…shaking? He was shaking simply because the lights were out? Duo shook his head; the new recruits were totally clueless, Duo whispered to himself.

"If you're scared of the dark just wait till Shinigami gets through with you!"

Loading his gun Duo left the confinements of the shadows, the guard's eyes widened and he shakily aimed his gun at Duo and fired…missing by several inches. Duo just laughed and ran a hand through his bangs, his violet eyes darkened and narrowed, and he spoke in a low growl.

"Weak and pathetic, just like the others. Your incompetence will cost you dearly…"

The boy's screams could be heard all over the facility, though no one came to his aid.

-

Inputting codes was one of Heero's specialities, but for some reason he couldn't seem to concentrate; Wufei's words were still spinning in his mind. Heero had suspected something was different about Duo from the first time he had fought with him; the boy normally so bright and upbeat could turn cynical and nasty in a matter of seconds. And it seemed he wasn't the only person to notice this.

But what was getting to Heero was that it was happening more frequently, the darker side of Duo was appearing even when they weren't in battle…

_Heero ran a hand through his messy brown hair, blinking a few times to focus on the screen of his laptop. He vaguely recalled Duo chastising him for working in the dark, and he smiled internally at the thought of Duo being protective._

_Speaking of the braided boy, Duo had just entered the dark kitchen and seemed completely oblivious to Heero's presence. He walked to the sink and ran the cold tap while searching groggily for a glass. Heero's first instinct was that the boy was sleepwalking, but dismissed it when he noticed Duo's eyes were open and alert._

_The Deathscythe pilot checked the temperature of the water with his finger and filled the glass while wiping his wet finger on a tea towel._

_Duo took a sip of water and noticed some dirty utensils on the work surface from dinner, Heero was surprised when he began to put them into the dishwasher ready to be cleaned; Duo never usually did helpful things like this, in fact it had probably been Duo who left them out hoping Quatre would clean up like always._

_Duo paused when he came across the vegetable knife; he stood perfectly still which was an abnormality for him. He slowly picked it up staring intently at the blade, moonlight reflecting off the silver surface making it look so tempting…_

_Heero frowned at his friends actions and was about to make his presence known when Duo sighed and put the knife with the other items before leaving the room and going upstairs._

_Heero just sat; Duo hadn't noticed him he was sure of that. But the Duo he had just seen was definitely not the same boy he knew and shared a room with, the same boy he had forged a friendship with…_

"Yuy! Have you finished with the security alarms? Duo'll be down there by now and we can't afford to let him get captured."

"I'm done."

Wufei nodded and reloaded his gun ready to fight their way back to the Gundam's if necessary. Then all that remained was to blow the place up.

-

Duo, still smirking, grabbed the now deceased ID card from the inexperienced soldier and ran it through the panel beside the door. As he waited the light from his torch dimmed, flickered, and finally gave out. Swearing to any and every god he could think of he threw the useless piece of equipment to the ground.

Confidently walking in, checking that he still had the bomb to plant, he listened for any movements but found none. Was that guy the only thing keeping him from his goal? He felt slightly disappointed…

"Oh well."

He felt someone grab his arms, and cold metal being pressed against his neck. How he had not known he was surrounded was a mystery to him, yet there seemed to be about five sets of footsteps and breathing. A torch was brought to his face as a man spoke.

"Duo Maxwell, we've been waiting…we have a little 'experiment' that we need to try out. Care to volunteer?"

The owner of the voice stepped forwards, into the golden beam of the flashlight and Duo felt sick to his stomach as an all-too-familiar face came into view.

"So this was a set-up then? You sent us a fake mission?"

"Oh no…Duo, we would never do that to our pilots, we do need you to blow this place up for us, destroy our evidence you see? We were forced to work on this project for OZ, but they wanted to waste our efforts on one of their soldiers so we sent you this mission, and here you are."

The figure smiled and Duo wished he could knock it right off his face. He struggled against the man holding him but the five men just laughed.

"Don't bother struggling; it won't do you any good. J, prepare the table, O strap him down…don't worry Duo, this won't hurt a bit!"

The last thing Duo saw was the smirking face of Dr. G as he felt a sharp sting in his arm and darkness consumed his mind…

**-To be Continued-**

* * *

**Please review.**

_-Dagger_


	2. Discovery

**Sorry for not updating, I've been pretty busy.**

* * *

**Yami no Hikari**

When Duo finally awoke the mad scientists were nowhere to be seen. Though the lights were back on again, and only flickered slightly every few minutes. Duo rubbed the back of his head and groaned slightly, blinking his eyes a few times to clear his mind he suddenly recalled the mission; more specifically that Heero was going to blow the building up whether or not pilot 02 had evacuated.

Grabbing his gun he decided to meet Wufei and Heero, they should be in the entrance hall waiting for him. In theory. That was depending on how long he had slept for. He ran out of the doors and began his ascent up the elevator shaft, reaching the top in no time.

-

"Where is he? He should have been here by now, Yuy."

"He'll be here. If not we just have to blow the building without him."

Wufei stared at Heero, not really sure whether or not to believe him. He knew that Heero had a soft spot for the braided pilot and probably wouldn't kill him. Probably.

Thankfully he wasn't left to dwell on these thoughts as said pilot came running around the corner and into view. His hair was pretty dishevelled and his clothing torn in places. There were spots of dried blood all over his body but it wasn't clear if it was his own or someone else's.

"Duo, come on, we're ready to go. Quatre and Trowa are waiting with the Gundam's, but they suggested we take the scenic route as there are several guards hanging around. No point in fighting them. Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Heero nodded and led them out of the building.

-

Deep down in the basement of the building bright blue-violet eyes slowly blinked open. The teen sat up and flicked his braid over his shoulder before picking up a spider that had crawled over his hand and squeezing it. Blood trickled down his hand as he smirked.

He then remembered that the building was going to explode, and almost as if he didn't care, he slowly made his way to the elevator shaft. He paused to laugh at the soldier he had killed earlier.

-

"Duo." Heero growled the name through frustration. The braided boy was animatedly enlightening the other two on what had happened to him down in the basement sector.

"It's true, though!"

"Did you plant the bomb?"

"Yes."

"That's all I care about then."

Duo stopped speaking and trudged along next to Wufei. He didn't like it when Heero was so pised off with him; he hadn't even done anything to anger the Wing pilot. He was just telling the truth. He _had_ been drugged, but for what purpose he couldn't tell. He didn't feel any different, except maybe a little happier. Correction, he _had_ felt a lot happier until Heero had yelled at him.

Wufei had never been more shocked in his life when he glanced over to the Deathscythe pilot and found tears in his eyes.

-

The braided boy arrived at the entrance to the building. There were a few guards to the left, just in front of where the Gundams were set. They didn't look that tough…

"Hey guys, mind if I join the party?"

Guns fired all around him, but no one could hit the boy. He moved like lightning dodging every attack and issuing deadly ones of his own. In no time at all the ground was littered with OZ soldiers and the path to the Gundams clear.

Trowa and Quatre appeared, their eyes widening at the carnage.

"Uh…Duo? Where are Heero and Trowa?"

"I couldn't see them. We should probably just get out of here, they can fend for themselves."

Quatre looked doubtful, but Duo had already made his way to Deathscythe. He called down to them.

"Coming or not? They'll probably meet us at the safe house." The two boys looked at one another, shrugged and made their way to their own Gundams.

-

"I'm telling you, J, G, O, they were all there!"

"What would the doctors be doing at an OZ facility?"

"I don't know, I can't remember everything. I think they were forced there. Hey, where did you say my Gundam was?"

"With our right…here…"

The three stared up at Wing Zero and Altron and the other three vacant spots.

"…well it was there. Maybe an OZ soldier stole your suit?"

"No way! Not Deathscythe Hell…no…this is just not my day." Heero made his first contribution to the conversation.

"You'll have to ride with me. No touching the controls. Wufei, follow us, I have the directions to the safe house." Wufei nodded and climbed into Altron.

"Heero?"

"What?"

"Can I drive?"

-

As much as Heero liked the braided pilot, he never ever wanted to share a cockpit with him again. The whining never ceases.

"Are we there yet?"

"…"

"Are we there yet?"

"…"

"Are we there yet?"

"…"

"Are we - you know this isn't much fun if you don't say anything."

"…"

"Fine. So when do we detonate the bomb?"

A detonator switch was thrust into his hand, Heero had predicted Duo's next question was going to be 'Can I detonate it?' Duo pressed the switch and watched as the building erupted into flames, he prayed that his Gundam wasn't anywhere near it at the time, and simultaneously prayed that the Doctors _were_ near it at the time. He then sat back to be chauffeured home.

"Are we there yet?"

-

"Duo where are you? You're supposed to be helping us unpack supplies. DUO! Turn the music down!"

"Sheesh. Sorr--y."

"I don't know what's wrong with you, but can you at least make yourself useful and come downstairs for a minute?"

"I don't know."

Quatre restrained from murdering the boy and instead walked downstairs into Trowa's arms. The taller teen rocked him gently, not wanting the blonde to turn homicidal.

The front door opened, Heero and Wufei entered carrying several bags. Quatre thanked Allah and rushed to hug Heero instead, Trowa felt slightly miffed seeings how he was Quatre's boyfriend and all.

"Heero, please. Duo's been a nightmare ever since we got home! You have to talk some sense into…that…braided…Duo?" Quatre had paled; over Heero's shoulder he could clearly see Duo entering holding another bag. The Deathscythe pilot smiled and waved.

"He's been with us the whole time, right Wufei?" The Chinese man nodded and started to unpack the food supplies. Trowa and Quatre stared at one another as everyone heard footsteps on the stairs. A fairly short teen with violet eyes and long brown hair pulled into a braid entered the kitchen.

"What is all the noise? I can't concentrate on the TV."

**To be Continued**

* * *

**Please review.**

_-Written: __3rd August 2004___

_-Dagger_


	3. Explanations

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed; sorry about the long wait for this chapter.**

* * *

**Yami**** no Hikari**

Quatre once again looked over at the Duo's, who were sitting in the living room side by side on one of the plush sofas. Now that he could see them both together he could see slight differences between the two; one was sitting rigidly nervously picking at the stitching on a cushion while the other was relaxed, his feet were on the coffee table and he was assessing one of his knifes, licking it clean of blood.

Shuddering slightly Quatre turned to the other three boys in the kitchen. Heero was sitting at the table tapping furiously at his laptop with a steaming cup of coffee next to him. Wufei was sitting quietly looking rather perplexed by the whole situation; Trowa just sat peeling an orange as if Duo becoming two people was the most normal thing to ever happen in his life.

Quatre cleared his throat and gained the attention of two boys; nothing less than the apocalypse could distract Heero - with the obvious exception of a mission.

"So…what are we going to do?" Trowa simply looked at his boyfriend as if to say 'why are you asking me?' So Wufei answered instead.

"We just have to figure out which one is our Duo, and then…kill the other?"

The sounds of key tapping stopped, and everyone turned to face Heero who was sipping from his coffee cup. He coughed slightly and glared up at Wufei.

"What if we kill the wrong one? How can we be sure that we choose Duo? We don't know how long the impostor has been researching us; he could know everything and more about Duo. Anyway let's face it; if we ask Duo any questions he'll probably get them wrong anyway."

Slightly startled by Heero's long speech Wufei turned to Quatre.

"Winner, couldn't you just, you know, do whatever it is that you do. Can't you sense which one is the real Duo just by like touching his hand or something?" The blonde bit his lip and glanced over at Trowa who was still peeling the orange.

"Yes…I suppose I could…but the angrier Duo might not like it."

"Can't you at least try, though?" The blonde looked again to Trowa who was still peeling off little white stringy bits and placing them into a neat pile on the tablemat.

"Okay, fine. But they're not going to like it."

Confused and somewhat interested Wufei followed the Sandrock pilot into the living room. Heero followed too for the sheer hell of it. Though he would never admit it one of his few interests included the self proclaimed god of death. And some whipped cream and mini marshmallows.

Trowa continued to calmly deal with the orange.

-

Quatre nervously walked up to the shyer Duo and smiled, earning a smile back. The other Duo made a disgusted sound and went back to shredding a cushion with his knife.

Quatre knelt down in front of Duo and stared into his eyes, leaning closer he placed one hand on the braided boy's forehead, the other in one of Duo's hands and closed his eyes in concentration. Duo looked up at Heero for answers and was surprised to see the Wing pilot…seething? No, Heero never showed emotions like that. And if he did it certainly wouldn't be of jealousy.

Duo felt a light blush grace his cheeks at the close contact of the blonde pilot, he could feel the body warmth and to make matters worse they were holding hands. Maybe that was why Heero was jealous?

Any thoughts of Heero were erased from Duo's mind as Quatre's sparkling blue eyes opened and he, somewhat embarrassedly, let go of his hand mumbling that he was finished.

"Finished doing what?"

Duo's question was unanswered as Quatre dared to approach the knife-wielding Duo. He was met with a cold glare that simply said 'touch my hand and you won't live to regret it.' Quatre nodded and hurried out of the room, followed closely by an amused Wufei and a seething Heero.

"What a twat. And he actually wanted to touch my hand!"

"Be nice; Quatre just wants to help you know."

"Whatever. How expensive do you think this vase is?"

"It's pre-colonial, gotta be worth about a small colony I suppose."

-_Smash_-

"Cool."

-

"So, what do you think? Was the one you touched…Duo-ish?" Quatre smiled at Wufei's choice of words while he sipped on his tea.

"Yes, that is definitely Duo."

"So who's our knife freak?" Heero asked over his extra-strong coffee.

"Duo."

"Quatre, we're going round in circles. You just said the one you touched up was Duo." Quatre glared at Heero, well a Quatre-glare.

"I didn't touch him up. But yes, that one is also Duo. Somehow during today's mission Duo was split into two, and the results are in the living room destroying my antiques."

"How can you be sure the other one is Duo? You didn't touch him."

"Wufei, I was with him all the time you weren't. I knew something was wrong with him but I could definitely tell it was Duo. There's no mistaking that boy."

Heero slammed down his cup and rubbed his eyes.

"So what do we do? Call Doctor G?"

"Heero, remember earlier Duo told us something about the doctors…I wasn't really paying attention to him though."

"Me neither. He said they were at the facility though."

"The one we blew up."

"I call J, see if he's answering. If he's still in one piece I'll rip him apart for what he's done." Wufei nodded and watched as Heero logged onto his email accont with inhuman speed. Quatre just watched, wondering what on earth was going on.

"What on earth is going on?"

"Duo mentioned the doctors when he was making up an excuse for being late, something about an experimental procedure. Next he'll probably be abducted by aliens or something." Wufei shook his head and drank some herbal tea. Quatre studied his reflection in his own steaming cup. _Maybe Duo wasn't lying?_

-

"I'm hungry. They can't keep us in here without food and drink."

"Quatre did offer you some food but you growled and tried to stab him."

"Oh yeah. What are you eating?"

"Toast. You want some?"

"Do I look like I want some?"

"Yes."

"…Shut up."

-

Heero glared at the webpage; the web page glared black. There was no mistaking it; they had screwed up. The facility they had blown up was definitely something to do with OZ, but there were other forces involved. Five names instantly leaped up at him; the mad doctors. Duo had been telling the truth.

"I think you need to take a look at this page." The three teen's moved from their positions of doing nothing and crowded round the laptop. Quatre gasped and glanced over to the closed living room door.

"How did you find this page?"

"I hacked into the OZ mainframe. They didn't want me to get in though; there must've been a hundred or so firewalls and passwords." Quatre nodded and stared back at the page.

"How do we fix this? Considering we broke all of the equipment?"

"We'll have to go back and salvage what we can. Maybe the maganacs can help?"

"I'll call them right away. I just hope we can help Duo…"

-

"Do you think if I yell loud enough they'll give me alcohol?"

"I didn't know twenty minutes ago, I didn't know ten minutes ago, and I don't know now."

"I want to burn something."

The other Duo shifted away in his seat, violet eyes widening considerably. His braid was very flammable…

**To be Continued**

* * *

**Please review**

_-Dagger_


End file.
